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04 November, 2007

A new version of Firefox is available for download. On October 19, Mozilla made available an update to its open source browser, taking the version build from 2.0.0.7 to 2.0.0.8. The version numbers are not a clear indication of the evolution between the two Firefox variants. According to Mozilla, over 200 issues impacting the Firefox browser were addressed by the 2.0.0.8 update. However, at the same time, the extent of the modifications introduced by Firefox 2.0.0.8 also affected the functionality of the browser regressing a handful of aspects.

On October 22, Mozilla promised to update the Firefox 2.0.0.8 update in order to take care of the problems generated by the refresh. You will be able to find a complete list with the issues fixed at the bottom of this article. “As part of Mozilla Corporation’s ongoing stability and security update process, Firefox 2.0.0.9 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for free download. We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release. If you already have Firefox 2.x, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours. This update can also be applied manually by selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu starting now,” Mozilla advised.

Unlike Microsoft, Mozilla advances the build number of Firefox with each update, and the move to 2.0.0.9 serves as a case in point, even if it is just a stability update. The same is valid for security updates patching the open source browser. In contrast, Microsoft is a tad shyer of taking the build number of Internet Explorer 7 to the next level. At the beginning of October, the Redmond company introduced what can be considered as a major update to IE7, moving to version 7.0.5730.13, and opening up its proprietary browser to all Windows pirates.

Here is the list with the problems introduced by Firefox 2.0.0.8 but fixed in 2.0.0.9:

• “Bug 400406 - Firefox will ignore the “clear” CSS property when used beneath a box that is using the “float” property. There is a temporary workaround JS/CSS code available for web developers with affected layouts.• Bug 400467 - Windows Vista users will get “Java not found” or “Java not working” errors when trying to load Java applets after updating. To fix this, users can right-click the Firefox icon and “Run as administrator”, then browse to a page with a Java applet — doing this once will fix the problem and permanently restore Java functionality.• Bug 396695 - Add-ons are disabled after updating. Users can fix this problem by opening their profile folder and removing three files (extensions.rdf, extensions.ini and extensions.cache)• Bug 400421 - Removing a single area element from an image map will cause the entire map to disappear. There is no workaround available at this time.• Bug 400735 - Some Windows users may experience crashes at startup. There is no workaround available at this time.”